The Solar-Powered Seiko Astron Watch Even Boasts a Mini GPS Receiver

The solar-poweredSeiko Astron watch has so many built-in gadgets that it would make even James Bond jealous! It has been dubbed the most “intelligent watch ever built” as it features a low-energy GPS receiver that allows it to recognize all 39 time zones on earth via a global network of GPS satellites. The watch is also powered by sunlight, which means that you’ll virtually never need to change its battery.

The Seiko Astron takes its name from the Seiko Astron of 1969, which was the world’s first quartz watch. The Japanese company has clearly resurrected the moniker because they deem this new watch to be a worthy successor to its groundbreaking predecessor.

Seiko says that the watch has “atomic clock precision” because once a day, the Seiko Astron receives the time signal automatically and, on demand, connects to four or more GPS satellites that orbit the earth. This pinpoints its position and identifies the time zone and the exact time. The hands then automatically move to the correct local time.

The Seiko Astron is also available in several configurations, with one of the three models available in high-intensity titanium, which is stronger than stainless steel but has only 60% of its weight. The other two versions are made from stainless steel. Other features of the watch include a dual time sub-dial, in-flight mode indicator and a sapphire crystal face with ‘Super-Clear Coating’.

In a statement, Seiko said their new watch “required years of painstaking and ground-breaking R&D by Seiko Epson Corporation, which has resulted in no less than 100 patent applications. Only Seiko’s advanced energy-efficiency technology could invent the miniature GPS receiver that requires so little energy to receive GPS signals from four or more satellites. Only Seiko’s unrivaled skills in micro-engineering could package this technology into a watch that is just 47 mm in diameter and weighs about 135 grams. And only Seiko’s advanced IC circuitry expertise could make it possible for the watch to divide the world into one million ‘squares’ and allocate a time zone to each.”

So there you go! To see the Astron in action, check out the video from Seiko below.

Wow wow wow, what more can I say. I love Seiko watches because they are at the forefront of technology and this latest development proves it. I have 4 Seiko watches.
I have a dressy one for when I go out. 2 Divers (one that is about 15 years old and a newer model) and one of the original Solar Seiko's that was my dads which he wore when he died so I keep it for memories.
I brought my dressy Seiko from http://seikowatches.co/ and it looks great. The older diver was a gift, as was the newer diver.